On July 24, 2024 Beijing time, the much-anticipated first round of the men's soccer group stage Group B matches at the Paris Olympics kicked off with the marquee match between Argentina U23 and Morocco U23. The match not only attracted the attention of soccer fans around the world, but also became a hot topic of discussion due to the dramatic turn of events that followed.
In the first half of the game, both sides showed a strong desire to win, but the real moment to break the deadlock appeared in the second minute of the first half of extra time. Morocco's Rahimi, assisted by Hanus, scored a goal to open the first record for the Moroccan team, making the score 1-0. This goal boosted the morale of the Moroccan team, while the Argentine team had to face the situation of falling behind.
In the second half, Argentina tried to strengthen their attack to equalize the score, but the Moroccan defense remained solid. However, in the 51st minute, the situation took a turn for the worse. Argentina's Soler was fouled in defense, giving Morocco a penalty kick. Rahimi was again on the penalty spot, and he calmly put the ball into the net, completing his second goal and extending the score to 2-0.
Faced with the unfavorable situation of being two goals down, Argentina did not give up, and they began to look for breakthrough chances more aggressively. Finally, in the 68th minute, Argentina's efforts were rewarded. Soler took a shot from outside the penalty area and the ball flew skillfully to the back post. Substitute Giuliano Simone seized the opportunity and easily hit the empty net to score a goal for Argentina, making the score 1-2.
However, the climax of the match was far from over. In the 16th minute of extra time, Argentina had a great chance in front of the net. Otamendi's shot hit the post, but then Cristian Medina's header in the melee leveled the score at 2-2. The goal gave Argentina hope for an equalizer or even a comeback, but what followed was beyond everyone's expectations.
Due to the excitement of the fans and the fact that the Argentine players were preparing to return to the locker room after the goal, many mistakenly thought the match was over. However, official information showed that the match was not officially over and the VAR system had a replay of Medina's goal. After a long wait and discussion, the VAR finally confirmed that Medina was in an offside position when he scored the goal, and the goal was therefore disallowed. This decision caused a huge commotion on the pitch and in the crowd, and the match was suspended for a long time.
After an interruption of almost two hours, the referee decided to resume play. After a 20-minute warm-up, the players returned to the field, but the atmosphere was very different. Finally, after three minutes of extra kicks on an empty field, the match was officially over, with the score set at 1-2, and the Argentine U23s suffered an unfortunate loss to open the tournament.
